On my own again....

Phil is off to Ohio this week. Last week it was DC. We're meeting up in Seattle for the weekend, then the 1st week of August he's off to I think Ft. Worth, or maybe it's Kansas--- he might as well be on a book tour. For some reason most of the travel for his job happens during the part of the year when a person just might want to take a vacation. We're hoping for October, as of now.

When he's gone it's just me & the puppies (all right, the puppies and I) and we get a tad tired of each other's company. They'd like longer walks; sorry Jack, it's 93 in the shade. I'd like a night un-interrupted by barking or a slurpfest [trust me you don't wanna know.] On the other hand I can knit for hours, as long as the podcasts and L&O reruns hold out.

Had a knitting defeat last week. I had 99% finished the shoulder wrap, which I so wanted to have to take to Seattle, and had to admit that it was way too small, or short, or fit only for a very narrow shouldered woman, not one built like a horse as in moi. I could not come up with a way of adding length that did not smack of desperation. I frogged. The whole thing. Owwww. I am about 1/2 way through the re-knit-- added five more lace repeats and a seed stitch border and went up a needle size. If it still doesn't fit I will wear it as a hat, I swear.

Also started another scarf, this one to be a very simple lace and quite wide and long, made of pale grey handpainted sock yarn. I walked around the yarn store for about an hour and kept coming back to the Cherry Tree Hill merino sock yarn. It's the right weight, it's a glorious color, it has no fuzz ( I didn't want fuzz-- this is for cool nights in warmer seasons) and you get 400+ yards in a skein. So it's probably some sort of knitting crime to use sock yarn for something other than socks, but pooey. My only worry is that it may not block out nice and flat, if it's washable wool. Even if it doesn't I think it will be cool.

Hummingbirds are all over the feeder lately; I was treated to a serious dogfight yesterday. There was a female determined to keep a male away from the feeder. Divebombing, ramming, swooping, and twittering went on for nearly 20 minutes. He finally got to feed but was so freaked out he kept looking around every sip to see if the demon lady was coming back. So much passion in such a tiny bird!

Lazy Summer

Haven't entered anything in here in a while, I see, but then nobody reads it anyway so who am I trying to please? I've been knitting great guns since we got back from the Blue Ridge trip. There's a wrap I really want to get done to wear to Seattle, if I can, in Sublime soya cotton--- they call the color "cinnamon" but I think it's exactly the color of brown paper bags. This is what I picked up after returning the evil Noro Silk Garden. I've also shifted my current socks onto two circs each, which seems to be working well, and I worked out a design based on a ripple pattern in the Knitter's Bible. There are three other sock yarns whining at me to be started, and a cardigan languishing on the shelf, so if I start anything else I need to have my head examined!
The heat has been eating into my exercise time, which means more time in the gym is called for. The dogs just don't warrant much of a walk when it's over eighty and humid as a rain forest, nor do they really want to go out. It's too buggy and wet to go to the driving range, due to the lovely thunderstorms we've been having every night (no sarcasm intended; I really enjoy thunderstorms and we need every inch of rain.)
Sunday's golf game was an exercise in living with embarassment. I hit a few decent drives and of course I can chip and putt pretty well, thanks to all the minigolf Phil & have played, but by the back nine I just could not get to the green. I got so blitzed by the heat that Phil urged me to sit out a while and I skipped the last three holes in favor of sitting in the cart. Dave, Phil, and Holli seemed unaffected by the sweatbath conditions. Guess I'm meant to be a spring and fall golfer. I need a few lessons, too, to get me to the green in less than five or six shots! I was using SPF70 sunslop, and missed a space on the front of each shin for some reason--- it's still sort of pink. I was pretty ticked at myself because I try to be very careful about sun exposure, having skin that turns red if I even think about the sun.
Got to go catch up on the Tour de France. I'm following the Chipotle-Garmin American team (since we're consumers of both products---ummm, veggie burritos.)

less than infinite wisdom

OK, so I'm having about 12 people over for brats and whatnot tonight-- something I foolishly volunteered myself for-- why do social interactions always seem more attractive in the abstract? Phil has a work thing going on with folks from out of town, and we've done this before, so I figured we should do it again. It's really very simple, except for the shopping, making of brownies and cookies and coleslaw, and oh yes, cleaning all three bathrooms. And the rest of the house. And relocating all the bits that have taken up residence in odd places all over the house. They will creep back out in the dead of night, probably within 48 hours, but one has to make an effort. Of course it will be fun in the end.
I had been working on making a wrap out of Noro Silk Garden, and I gave up yesterday. The yarn has seductive colors, but it's abysmally constructed. It had knots, bits of straw, places so thin they broke and places so thick I could hardly knit them. And it sheds. I took two skeins back to the LYS and actually threw out the one I'd been working on, and it wasn't cheap. Lesson learned. With the return credit ( and a few wee bucks more) I got some nice consistent soft soy- cotton and a little merino for later in the year. Both beautiful and well behaved, and cheaper than the Noro disaster.
It's a little cooler this week, a real relief since I seem to have been revisited by the Furnace Fairy, a creature that comes around to bother women of a certain age by heating their entire bodies to boiling at awkward moments. I thought I had gotten rid of the FF several years ago, but here she is again. Huh.
Only 3 weeks until I get to go see Andrea & Jeff and baby Cate again, whoo-hoo!! I'm looking forward to reading cate "The Piggy in the Puddle". Must practice.

Blue Ridge

Got back Thursday from five days up in the mountains. It was blessedly cool, down to the forties at night, and clear. Holli, Dave, & Phil rode bikes three days, we played golf one day, and I did some hiking and some knitting & read two J. D. Robb mysteries. Other people fed us the whole time-- B&B breakfasts and restaurant dinners-- pretty sweet. I gained a few pounds I have to carve off this week. Didn't take a single photo the whole time; I just wanted to be there.
Have to get ready now to go up to Rhode Island on Saturday. Working on two more pairs of socks and maybe a wrap.
The hummingbirds have been coming to the feeder regularly, or one hummer comes a lot-- can't tell. Things are very dry here, which I'm sure makes my sugar water more interesting. We badly need a small, polite hurricane!

Rosie's Got her Wag Back

Well, mostly. She is recovering from [Ewww Alert!] impacted anal glands. I don't even want to think about what that feels like and I am grateful humans don't come with those accessories. The vet also tested and warned me to keep an eye on "Rosie's benign fatty masses." Well. I've got those too, but in my case they're called hips and thighs. Anyway the Rose is on the mend & we're glad. At nine years old I guess we can expect more doggy decline. Hmmm-- they're just about my age in dog years. Oh, dear.

The socks are done, see pic, and I'm trying to put another pair on the needles. This time I'm doing toe-up socks, so I can make the ankles a little longer without worrying about running out of yarn. This calls for starting with a curved toe geometry that is giving me fits; also, the yarn is finer and the needles smaller than the first pair. One needs very bright light. I want to start them so I can take them up to the Blue Ridge with me next week, when Phil & his friends go on bike rides and I get to knit to my heart's content and do a little hiking. It will be cooler up there, and I'm so looking forward to that. 96 degrees F yesterday (and the thermometer is in the shade under the eaves.)

A Woe of the Tail

Something's wrong with Rosie's tail, and if it doesn't wag normally by Monday we'll be off to the vet. She's in a little discomfort (not enough to effect her appetite or desire for walkies.) But her tail is just hanging there as if it's broken, although neither of us can remember any reason why it would have been injured. Mysterious. I've checked out everything I can think of and meanwhile she's getting extra TLC and yogurt.

Went to the farmer's market today & came back with green beans, yellow crookneck squash, red potatoes, beets, blueberries, purple caulifower, and the first of the Sandhill peaches. It's going to be a colorful weekend. So far the squash went into a casserole, the caulifower got steamed (and turned a disconcerting dark blue that sort of puts you off eating it, although it tastes fine) and the beets got roasted with carrots--- a little too roasted since we were watching Big Brown lose the Belmont & I forgot to take them out. I felt bad for the horse, he should not have been run so soon again in this heat and with a cracked hoof. He's still a magnificent beast.

I have to admit I feel bad for Hilary too. I was hoping not to have to vote for her, for a number of reasons, and will be pleased to vote for Obama, but she certainly set a high bar for future women to follow. I wonder if she'd have done better if she were a plain old senator and not attached to a former Clinton--- I rather think so. It's interesting that in many foreign countries the rooting is for Obama because he is seen as "new". One can only hope.

I've been listening to podcasts while I finish the second sock. Brenda Dane, who lives in Wales, gives a great knitting-related podcast once a month called Cast-On. She interviews interesting people and throws in a little good music, and they last about an hour-- just right for a dog walk or a session at the gym.

Next post I will have a picture of my feet modeling The Socks (and will be plotting my next pair.)

Sitting Pretty

For the three plus years we've been in this house, we've talked about getting a table & chairs to go on the deck. Finally pulled the trigger. The folks who built this house must have been great entertainers, because it's designed for big parties; big kitchen, big livingroom, generous deck, french doors opening onto the deck. We're not that social, but during the part of the year when outside living is possible, the deck is pretty nice. Surrounded by trees, there's usually some shade and a bit of breeze (and acorns, tulip poplar flowers, oak/ash/pine spring thingys, twigs, pollen, bushels of leaves...) So, we went to the usual Lowe's and Home Depot, looked, were not excited; went to Furnitureland South, looked at the price tags, and came back to Lowe's determined to be plenty excited, and came home with a nice round table and four chairs, all heavy enough to withstand a windstorm and easy to clean.
Furnitureland South is a High Point institution. Five floors of furniture! Acres and acres! World's largest----- chest of drawers. Yup, four stories high and thankfully bolted to the building so it doesn't fall on anybody. You really can't miss the thing. It has Hickory's World's Largest Chair beat all hollow. All this has to do with North Carolina having once been the center of the furniture industry, due to all the hardwood forest that we've since cut down and replaced with pulpwood and houses. The furniture is now made in places like Indonesia, but still marketed from here. They do have great stuff, just not that I want to spend that kind of money on in order for it to be rained on and collect bird dookey.
We planned, of course, to eat our steak fajitas on this new table, but as soon as Phil got everything set up it started thundering and soon rain was banging down and the dogs were cowering in their "We're all gonna die" mode. This morning's coffee and newspaper out there was very pleasant, though, if a little damp. Gotta make a cover for that table.
We also caved on the AC last night. We traditionally hold out as long as possible on both AC and heat, for which Duke Power should be grateful. But last night we were sticking to the furniture and the sheets and there would have been no sleep without the wonders of modern HVAC. I don't think I could live down here without it.
I finished one of the socks in that first pair yesterday, all but the grafting of the toe seam. Tried it on and it's a little strange in the fit, but I figure I'll wash it and block it and it will be done, and be an actual sock, if nothing else. The second pair will have better workmanship. Its sock brother is almost done too, I'll model them soon.